Chapter 67
Chapter 67
The triangular shoulder blades on both sides of his back twitched as he picked something up from the ground. Bom slowly approached him from behind.
“……Jae-gyu. You know what?”
Jae-gyu, who had picked up a broken branch lying on the ground and was poking something with it, stood up at Bom's call. Seeing Jae-gyu turn around, Bom let out a small scream.
“Ack! What is that?”
“Someone else's trunk pants flew over too.”
Jae-gyu, who had skewered the rustic plaid trunk pants on the branch, stared blankly at Bom with a 'what do you want?' expression.
Bom tried her best to ignore the branch Jae-gyu was holding as she opened her mouth. Just then, she noticed white rose petals, swept down by the typhoon, scattered all over the ground.
“The roses in the garden were in full bloom, but all their petals have fallen.”
“I think it has a certain atmosphere. With the petals scattered so profusely on the ground like this.”
It would have, if Jae-gyu wasn't holding someone else's underwear. Bom lowered her gaze, pressed the grass with her right foot, and parted her lips.
“Um, the bouquet you gave me before. It was really pretty.”
“Right. I specially brought it in. They said it was an imported flower. Mimosa and what was it... Caffeine Rose.”
It was a Caffè Latte Rose.
“Do you remember what you wrote on the card?”
At her question, Jae-gyu's lips slowly curved upwards. With a refreshing smile, the phrase that had kept Bom awake at night returned in his voice.
“Yoon Bom, Seon Jae-gyu, First Day.”
Had Jae-gyu written that with the certainty that she would accept him? Bom had kept that card on her bedside table, pulling it out to look at it often.
Bom's movements, as she pressed the dirt floor with her slipper-clad feet, stopped. She hadn't expected something like this during their strange first meeting... Bom, her face flushed with a slight fever, looked up and spoke to Jae-gyu, who was quietly watching her.
“That 'first day,' if we make it... today... how about that?”
Thud.
The branch and someone else's underwear Jae-gyu was holding fell to the ground.
“What did you just...”
“Today. Is it a bit awkward? It was chaotic, but I feel like today will keep sticking in my memory...”
In dramas or movies, scenes like this unfolded romantically, with beautiful backdrops and wonderful lines.
Should she be having this conversation in front of her house, wearing loose homewear amidst the typhoon's debris? She hesitated for a moment, but somehow, this naturalness seemed to suit Jae-gyu better.
She had always been acutely conscious of how she appeared to others, but it was different in front of Jae-gyu. He was the only man in her entire life with whom she could comfortably reveal so much.
“So, if a day like this were our first day... I thought I'd keep remembering it...”
A sliding sound came from the wet grass. Jae-gyu took a large step forward and grabbed one of Bom's shoulders. His large, rough hand, as always, was warm.
The warmth of his hot palm felt as if it conveyed how much he cared for her, making her nervous heart pound even harder.
“Are you... saying you want to date me?”
Now, it felt like she couldn't bear not hearing this man's unique accent and way of speaking. Bom lifted her head higher and carefully scrutinized Jae-gyu's face, illuminated by the garden lights.
Under the wavering lights, Jae-gyu, too, was examining every corner of Bom's face, swallowing his tension. His lips, barely holding back words as he waited for her answer, were rigid. Bom didn't drag it out.
“Yes. If your feelings are the same as before, Jae-gyu.”
Jae-gyu's expression changed in a strange way. He narrowed his brows, squinted his eyes, and his lips twitched upwards.
“Bom...”
Jae-gyu, who had wrinkled his nose a few times, suddenly thrust his hands under both of Bom's armpits and lifted her high, as if pulling out a radish.
“My Bom-Bom...”
Jae-gyu, who had thus lifted Bom into the air, shouted in a booming voice, seemingly not caring whether the sleeping people heard him or not.
“She's my girlfriend now!”
“Eek, that tickles!”
The spot Jae-gyu held tightly tickled, and Bom's laughter scattered into the air. Jae-gyu spun around in that state. Bom, her body swaying lightly, laughed to her heart's content.
The laughter of the two, filling the quiet garden, only subsided much later.
The conversation between the two, who had started a walk around the area, was not as light as expected, and it was long. But when they returned to the garden, they could finally laugh again.
Before going back inside, Jae-gyu pulled Bom by the waist and hugged her tightly at the front door. In the silent darkness, the sound of their excited breaths lingered.
“Bom.”
His low voice was so warm that Bom simply leaned into him, feeling Jae-gyu's body heat.
“Bom. Thank you. Really, I'll devote myself to you and do my best. I'll only look at you, Bom, for the rest of my life... cherish you, and love you.”
At his grand declaration, Bom let out a soft laugh. Even though it was absurd, hearing Jae-gyu's resolute words somehow made her feel good. Was it really necessary to go that far, like a wedding vow?
‘Marriage...?’
The word she had exchanged countless times with partners during blind dates suddenly felt unfamiliar. Marriage with Jae-gyu, of all people.
It must be a premature thought. She couldn't yet know if Jae-gyu thought of her that deeply. More importantly...
‘For me, marriage is still...’
Pushing aside the heavy and bitter feelings, Bom simply nodded her head in his embrace.
⋆★⋆
On the clear morning after the typhoon, all the guests had left. Jae-gyu dropped Bom and Bom-sik off in Cheongseol-eup, meticulously cleaned up the devastated Bom House, and returned home.
“Hmm.”
Jae-gyu was currently reading. Lying stretched out on the living room sofa, he slowly turned the pages until he stopped at a certain passage. Then he stretched out his arm, grabbed his phone from the sofa table, and pressed the camera button.
Click.
At the sound of the camera echoing in the living room, Han-gyeol, who had been watching TV and cleaning, approached the sofa.
“Uncle. What book are you reading?”
Han-gyeol, who had peeked at the cover, burst out laughing. Jae-gyu muttered in a perfectly serious voice.
“There's more than one thing I need to study right now.”
“Did you drop Teacher off safely?”
“Of course.”
Jae-gyu turned the page again, and click. He took another photo.
The book, A Guide for First Love, which he had borrowed from Bom earlier. This book was perfect for reading right now. He had read it once the day he first borrowed it, and was now embarking on his second read-through. Reading it after they started dating, it felt new, as if he were seeing it for the first time.
“Wow. Did My Bom-Bom♡ study this hard for the Suneung too?”
Tracing Bom's traces, he re-entered the important information. For Jae-gyu, who was completely ignorant when it came to dating, it was nothing short of a welcome rain.
In particular, the chapter 'Top 10 Silly Things Couples Do' had a lot to refer to, so he was taking photos of it to save.
“Han-gyeol. Do real couples actually do things like couple profile pictures?”
Han-gyeol chuckled, pulled out his phone from his pocket, and showed him his SNS profile picture and Se-jin's, alternating between the two.
“What is this?”
Both of them had pictures of some kind of dot.
“We took pictures of our favorite moles and made them our profile pictures. I thought Se-jin's mole under her eye was pretty, so I took a picture of that.”
“Okay, got it. I understand completely.”
Jae-gyu nodded, sat up abruptly, adjusted his posture, and tapped out a message.
My Bom-Bom♡ What are you doing?
A reply flew back immediately, along with the 'read' notification.
I just brewed some coffee.
Bom sent a photo. On the sofa table, a glass of coffee was visible next to a laptop. Jae-gyu, admiring Bom's ability to take even ordinary photos with such aesthetic flair, made the suggestion he had just thought of.
Could I gently ask for a selfie? ♡
He watched only the screen, eagerly anticipating her reply. Bom read the message immediately. But for some reason, no reply came.
“……”
Jae-gyu, who had been narrowing his brows and staring intently at the screen, turned his attention back to the book. The next chapter was 'Natural Skinship Only Possible Between Lovers.'
‘I don't even need to look at this...’
His eyes, which had been about to skip past this section—a part he'd indifferently skimmed the first time he read it—suddenly lit up at one particular phrase.
<If there's dust on their clothes or hair, brush it off for them. If they get food on their mouth while eating, wipe it for them. The other person will feel an inexplicable flutter from the sudden touch.>
Good, that was an incredibly natural method. A great idea struck Jae-gyu, and he slapped his knee.
“Ha, I can do this when I eat dakbal with Bom.”
“What?”
Han-gyeol, who was beside him, quickly glanced at the book.
“Ha... Are you serious?”
Even though Jae-gyu hadn't said anything specific, he immediately figured out what he was looking at and frowned.
“This is a piece of cake.”
He imagined wiping Bom's cheek, stained with sauce from diligently deboning dakbal while wearing hygiene gloves, and a pretty clear picture formed in his mind. If he diligently wiped her face and even fed her steamed egg...
Jae-gyu grinned, running the simulation in his head. Han-gyeol, watching him, suddenly turned serious, shook his head, and hardened his voice.
“Uncle. Don't ever do that. You'll get dumped by Teacher.”
“……”
“I'll make dinner. Let's eat something simple.”
“Alright.”
Han-gyeol, after once again warning him not to do what he'd just seen in the book, went into the kitchen.
Everything was smooth and peaceful. Jae-gyu hummed as he picked up the remote to turn off the TV, which was only showing commercials.
Just then, the bottled water commercial ended, and the screen switched to a program preview.
Along with the captions, scenes of contestants performing in the preliminaries appeared. Soon, Jae-gyu's humming stopped.